Option P4

scheme of work

Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

GCSE (9-1) History
Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in History (1HI0)
Introduction

This document provides a sample outline scheme of work for Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91.
This is intended as an example approach only and is not prescriptive: it should be adapted by schools to fit their timetabling and
staffing arrangements.
The scheme assumes 12 teaching weeks for the Period study.
The separate Course planner document provides a range of examples of delivery options that can be used for planning alongside this
document.
The separate Topic booklet for Option P4 includes illustrative exemplification of content.

In adapting this scheme of work, teachers might find it useful to consider the following:
● What, and how much, background and contextual material needs to be covered as an introduction and overview before
starting the main specification content.
● The focus of the question types in the assessment of the Period study:
 Explain two consequences of...
 Write a narrative account analysing...
 Explain the importance of x for y...

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Week Specification content

1 Introduction. Background to and overview of Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91

Key topic 1.1 Early tension between East and West

● The Grand Alliance. The outcomes of the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences.
● The ideological differences between the superpowers and the attitudes of Stalin, Truman and Churchill.
2 ● The impact on US-Soviet relations of the development of the atomic bomb, the Long and Novikov telegrams and
the creation of Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe.

Key topic 1.2 The development of the Cold War

● The impact on US-Soviet relations of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, 1947.
● The significance of Cominform (1947), Comecon (1949) and the formation of NATO (1949).
3 ● Berlin: its division into zones. The Berlin Crisis (blockade and airlift) of 1948-49 and its impact. The formation of
the Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic.

Key topic 1.3 The Cold War intensifies

● The significance of the arms race. The formation of the Warsaw Pact.
4 ● Events in 1956 leading to the Hungarian Uprising, and Khrushchev’s response.
● The international reaction to the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

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Week Specification content

5 Key topics 2.1-2.3 Cold War crises, 1958–70 (Berlin, Cuba, Czechoslovakia)
● The refugee problem in Berlin, Khrushchev’s Berlin ultimatum (1958), and the summit meetings of 1959–61.
● The construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961.
● Impact of the construction of the Berlin Wall on US-Soviet relations. Kennedy’s visit to West Berlin in 1963.
6 ● Soviet relations with Cuba, the Cuban Revolution and the refusal of the USA to recognise Castro’s government.
The significance of the Bay of Pigs incident.
● The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
7 ● The consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis, including the ‘hotline’. Attempts at arms control: the Limited Test
Ban Treaty (1963); the Outer Space Treaty (1967); and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968).
● Opposition in Czechoslovakia to Soviet control: the Prague Spring.
8 ● The Brezhnev Doctrine and the re-establishment of Soviet control in Czechoslovakia.
● The international reaction to Soviet measures in Czechoslovakia.
9 Key topic 3.1 Attempts to reduce tension between East and West
● Détente in the 1970s, SALT 1, Helsinki, SALT 2.
● The significance of Reagan and Gorbachev’s changing attitudes.
● Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty (1987).
10 Key topic 3. 2 Flashpoints
● The significance of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Carter Doctrine and the Olympic boycotts.
● Reagan and the ‘Second Cold War’, the Strategic Defence Initiative.
11 Key topic 3.3 The collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe
● The impact of Gorbachev’s ‘new thinking’ on Eastern Europe: the loosening Soviet grip on Eastern Europe.
● The significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
● The collapse of the Soviet Union and its significance in bringing about the end of the Warsaw Pact.
12 ● Review and assessment of Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941–91.

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